“Oh, that it is the reason why,” Spikes said of his still playing in the NFL 14 years after the Cincinnati Bengals made him the 13th overall pick in 1998 draft. “I mean, the Good Man upstairs has given me favor -- that first and foremost. But it’s the little stuff, because if you don’t care for the little stuff, if you let the little stuff keep lingering around and you add it up, that’s the big picture. It blows up on you.”

A torn Achilles’ early in the 2005 season placed Spikes on injured reserve, and a torn hamstring early the next season, which Spikes attributes to compensating for the Achilles’, caused him to miss four games. It was then that he purchased the hyperbaric chamber and began to “hone in and take care of my body, try to become one with my body.”

Now as much as ever, he needs to.

For the first time since 2007, Spikes is playing every down. He has, in fact, played all but 39 of the Chargers 718 defensive snaps.

That was not the intention when Spikes, who will turn 35 on Dec. 17, was signed to a three-year deal in July after spending the previous three seasons playing for the San Francisco 49ers. But due to injuries elsewhere, he is pretty much the only option at “Mike” inside linebacker.

In all, Spikes has been stout against the run and surprisingly serviceable against the pass. And his return to “every-down” status is something of a hot button.

“You know what I hate about that,” he said. “I think when you get older as a player in this league, (general managers), coaches, when they look at a player, they look at what you can’t do versus what you can do. I think sometimes that runs certain players out of the league … My thing is that, even though I wasn’t titled, ‘Oh you’re going to be the every down guy.’ I’ve always finished the season as the every-down back. Every year I was in San Fran I always finished the season as the three-down back. That’s where I made my money at. That’s where you first started knowing Takeo, when I was an every-down guy.”

Spikes, whose team-high 85 tackles this season give him 1,324 for his career, this Sunday will face in the Buffalo Bills one of his four previous teams. He said playing the Bills holds no special meaning, as just four former teammates remain from his last season (2006) there.

What has been his focus since he signed here is making the playoffs for the first time in his career, a prospect that is fleeting, at best, with four games to play. All season, he has forcefully maintained he believes it will still happen

“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said this week. “As of right now, it’s been more lows than highs (in terms of) wins and losses. But right now, we’re hitting the clouds going toward the atmosphere. That’s the way I would like to think of it.”

On the way, he paused for just a moment.

Spikes seemed genuinely unaware this would be his 200th game when asked about it on Wednesday.

“I think it’s just a testament to what I believe in and just the passion,” he said after a long pause, considering the milestone. “If I could play this game forever, I would.”